I got in three dramas in October, and each of them were interesting in their own ways. It was the epic historical Arthdal Chronicles, the supernatural comedy thriller When the Devil Calls Your Name, and the lighter historical Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung that kept me entertained:

Arthdal Chronicles

Arthdal Chronicles was a nice change for a historical with its ancient fantasy genre. With a big budget and gorgeous cinematography, it really set the stage for the magical world of Arthdal. The show was quite dark and did well with building up tension and intrigue.

Overall, Arthdal Chronicles was a unique experience. While it was a bit more political than I would like and had a lot of unlikable characters, it had a complex story, fantastic production, and a group of very talented actors. It got better as it went and brought everything together in very interesting ways. It was a great first attempt at this sort of genre, and I hope to see more kdramas try it in the future. (Arthdal Chronicles Review)

When the Devil Calls Your Name Korean Drama - Jung Kyung Ho and Park Sung WoongWhen the Devil Calls Your Name

When the Devil Calls Your Name was overall an excellent series with the only major flaw for me being that the pacing was slow. But there were high stakes and consistent plot developments all the way through that kept things interesting as they peeled back the layers to the characters’ complicated stories.

The acting was phenomenal too. We had two powerhouse actors headlining with Jung Kyung Ho and Park Sung Woong pitted against each. And they were fantastic! Our leading ladies of Lee Seol and Lee El were also just as good and gave such engaging performances.

When the Devil Calls Your Name was really well done. Although it had a distinct slowness throughout, the script, the acting, the production, and the soundtrack were all top notch. It’s fairly unique with it interesting mixture of genres, and that made for a mostly entertaining watch. (When the Devil Calls Your Name Review)

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung is a somewhat lighter historical that was super easy to watch. It felt fairly unique with its workplace focus on the lives of female historians and all of the challenges they faced that was mixed in with a lovely romance as well as some palace intrigue surrounding a mystery.

I really loved Shin Se Kyung and Cha Eun Woo as a couple. They both gave wonderful performances and were just adorable together. Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung was a pleasant drama overall. It wasn’t exactly riveting, but I quite enjoyed it. The humor was balanced well with the heavier themes, and it was a nice drama to just relax to and enjoy the story it had to tell. (Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung Review)


So how was October for you?

Happy drama watching to everyone!

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17 responses to “Korean Drama Update for October 2019”

  1. D Avatar
    D

    Hi Kay – I finished two this month. One of them was same as you – Rookie Historian and the other one was Graceful Family. 🙂

    1. Kay Avatar

      We’ve been watching similar things 🙂 I should wrap up Graceful Family this weekend. Glad you enjoyed them both 🙂

      1. D Avatar
        D

        Rookie Historian was an ok watch for me. I did however really liked Graceful Family. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this. I have put Vagabond on hold and will binge watch once it’s completed. I am currently watching a C drama called the Untamed.

        1. Kay Avatar

          Ah, well at least the one was really good for you and the other okay 🙂 I definitely have some thoughts on Graceful Family, lol. It had a few problems for me, but I did mostly enjoy it though 🙂

          I’ve been hearing so much about The Untamed lately. Everyone seems to be loving it. That certainly has my curiosity piqued! I’m still not very successful with most cdramas, but I’m sure I’ll at least try it out and see if it can win me over. Planning on starting Vagabond this weekend 🙂

          1. D Avatar
            D

            CDramas are misses than hits for me but I keep reaching out for them every now and then when I hear good things about certain ones here and there. There are a handful of ones that I have absolutely loved. The long episodes don’t bother me because I watch them slowly. The Untamed at the moment is just a tad bit slow for me. Not sure if I will stick around. We’ll see. I don’t understand the hype just yet either.

          2. Kay Avatar

            Yep, that’s my experience too. There’s so much I like about them, but usually they just end up being too slow for me to finish. It probably does help that you watch them slowly. Since I tend to watch one drama at a time, if a drama doesn’t have really good pacing or has lots of filler, I notice it. The historicals are so beautiful though. The only one I’ve completed is Chronicle of Life, which had it’s issues including some repetitiveness, but I mostly enjoyed it, and it was just gorgeous. So I’m really hoping to find another one I can watch until the end rather than dropping it.

  2. Timescout Avatar

    Finished two dramas this month. 🙂 Rookie Historian wasn’t too bad but not something I was heavily invested in. I also watched a jdrama Jimi ni Sugoi about proofreaders. It wasn’t quite as good as some of the other office centered jdramas I’ve watched but I liked it well enough. There’s even a cute and functional romance in it. Bit of a novelty that, as jdramas on the whole are kinda stingy on the romance front.^^

    I’ve also started When the Devil Calls Your Name, which I really like so far. It’s fun. I didn’t find it slow at all.

    1. Kay Avatar

      Well, you have had a decent month then 🙂 And a little romance in there to boot!

      Glad you’ve started When the Devil Calls Your Name too. I thought that one might have some appeal for you 🙂 From what I gathered from fan reactions, people were pretty divided between finding it intense and slow. Funny how people view the same thing so differently sometimes, lol. Even though it felt slow to me at times, I still liked it since everything else was really well done 🙂

  3. Snow Flower Avatar
    Snow Flower

    I finished 2 dramas in October:
    Dong Yi – a classic cozy sageuk about a kind and resourceful girl who enters the palace to find who killed her father and brother, and ends up becoming the King’s favorite concubine. Perfect watch for the fall, goes really well with pumpkin pie!

    Mad Dog – A team of cool people investigating insurance frauds and fighting against smart villains. This drama had it all: action, mystery, and thrills, but also a lot of humor and heartfelt moments.

    Currently watching:
    Vagabond – the perfect guilty pleasure!
    My Country – 5 men playing a dangerous political game. All the actors are excellent and a real treat to watch.

    1. Kay Avatar

      Oh wow! You’ve had a great drama month! Vagabond is up next for me. Been looking forward to that one all year. My Country will be in a few weeks. You know I’m excited for that one too 🙂

      Nice to hear your thoughts on Dong Yi. I’ve had that one on my watch list for ages. I usually only watch one or two long dramas a year, so I just haven’t made it to it yet. It looks great.

      I’ve been back and forth on watching Mad Dog. Here’s a question for you. I know you don’t care for episodic shows like me, so was Mad Dog pretty strong with the centralized story or do the smaller cases feel stronger? I thought the drama looked really interesting, but investigative/crime dramas frequently lean towards the episodic so I’m pretty selective with them.

      1. Snow Flower Avatar
        Snow Flower

        Mad Dog did not feel episodic at all. We see individual cases investigation at the beginning, but that serves as an introduction of the main characters. The focus of the show is the investigation of one case, and once the introduction of the characters was done, the show never deviated from it. The dynamic between the members of the investigating team is one of the highlights of the show.

        1. Snow Flower Avatar
          Snow Flower

          Everything clicked by the end of episode 3. Episode 2 was an extended flashback.

          1. Kay Avatar

            That’s good to hear! That definitely makes it more appealing for me. I’ll have to put it on the watch list then. Thanks for the details 🙂

  4. Kate Avatar
    Kate

    I finished Rookie Historian which was sweet and light. I have 1 episode left of Graceful Family which seems to be finishing strong. I started/dropped Chicago Typewriter. I started Encounter/Boyfriend but it’s pretty slow going. And I sneak peaked Vagabond as I’m dying to get going on that. There are so many good ones in progress that I want to get into that November looks very promising for viewing 🙂

    1. Kay Avatar

      Kind of a mixed month, huh? Glad you got in a couple decent ones though. I’m starting Vagabond this weekend and can hardly contain my excitement! Been waiting so long for it. So are we going to be watching that one around the same time too? 🙂 Yes, November does look promising with several others wrapping up that I’m excited about 🙂

      1. Snow Flower Avatar
        Snow Flower

        Vagabond is such a fun ride! Don’t forget to suspend your disbelief and just go with the flow. The action scenes are great and Lee Seung Gi is rather good in his role.

        1. Kay Avatar

          After watching the first ep, it seems like it will be fun! Oh yes, disbelief is immediately suspended! I’m pretty good at that anyways, lol. Lee Seung Gi is one of my favorite actors, and I’ve wanted to see him in a role like this for so long. If anything, I know he won’t disappoint me. Everything else looks great so far though. I’m excited to get deeper into this one!

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